Headlining a mammoth card at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Gervonta Davis impressed once again, defending his WBA lightweight title with a brutal eighth-round knockout of previously undefeated Frank Martin.

Davis (30-0, 28 KO) entered this fight as a pound-for-pound star but looking for the fight that would define his career, although he had the opportunity to knock out Ryan Garcia in the seventh round in their April meeting in the seventh round. Martin (18-1, 12 KO) deserved a shot at the world championship after scoring points in his match against Artem Harutyunyan last July, but here he faced a arduous task.

Martin boxed well in the tranquil opening, but Davis took it upon himself and let his hands go ‘Ghost’ feel its power.

The 29-year-old could have been elated with a solid third place, but ‘Tank’ he showed his strength once again in the fourth period, landing several challenging punches towards the end of the frame.

The first half was a tight one, but Davis started to turn the screw and upped the ante with some huge shots in the seventh half that preceded the end of the inning later.

The Baltimore player caught Martin with a challenging left uppercut and then delivered a great left hand that flattened the challenger so that he was unable to get back to his feet.

Benavidez defeats Gvozdyk

On the undercard, David Benavidez he made his debut in the lightweight heavyweight division and won the interim WBC belt after a points victory over former WBC champion Oleksandr Gvozdyk (20-2, 16 KO).

Scores of 119-109, 117-111 and 116-112 gave Benavidez (29-0, 24 KO) a decisive victory.

Puello shocks Russell

Alberto Puello surprised by winning the interim WBC super lightweight belt, securing a split decision victory over Gary Antuanne Russell.

Puello (23-0, 10 KO) was deducted two points for holding on during the fight, and one judge awarded the fight 118-109 to Russell (17-1, 17 KO), but was rejected by the other two judges, who saw it 115-109. 112 and 114-113.

Adames defended his world title

Carlos Adames made a successful first defense of his WBC middleweight title, beating Terrell Gausha (24-4-1, 12 KO) by a huge score.

Adames (24-1, 18 KO) won by one score of 119-109 and two by 118-110.

Undercard remaining

Mark Magsayo (26-2, 17 KO) won the vacant WBA Intercontinental super featherweight title by defeating Eduardo Ramirez (28-4-3, 13 KO) and Kyrone Davis (19-3-1, 6 KO) upset Elijah Garcia ( 16 -1, 13 KO) during a middleweight match, taking a split decision, winning in ten rounds.

Daniel Blancas (10-0, 5 KO) needed less than a round to defeat Aro Schwartz (23-8-1, 15 KO) in the super middleweight, and Justin Viloria (6-0, 4 KO) defeated Angel Antonio Contreras (15-9-2, 9 KO) in the fifth of six rounds in the super featherweight division.

Margaret Whitmore (3-0, KO0) defeated Mia Ellis (7-3, KO6) on points in four rounds in the super featherweight division, and debutant Brayan Gonzalez (1-0) scored a knockout and won all four rounds in the super bantamweight division with James Mulder (0-2).

Featherweight Reina Tellez (8-0, 5 KO) defeated Beata Dudek (4-2, 4 KO) in four rounds on points.

Richard Riakporhe has mocked Deontay Wilder’s father Gary for suggesting the Bronze Bomber still has a “few good years” left in the sport. Wilder has recently suffered a dramatic decline, most recently hitting a novel low when he was defeated by Zhilei Zhang in Saudi Arabia.

The hard-hitting American was knocked out in the fifth round, with Zhang unleashing two right hooks, sending his opponent to the canvas. The manner in which he lost led to calls for Wilder to retire, including: from his own mother’s side, but his father still believes that he should continue to fight.

In a speech earlier this month, the elder Wilder pointed the finger at his son’s coach Malik Scott and said: “You don’t need a buddy to coach you. It’s not too delayed for [Deontay]. I believe he still has a few good years ahead of him.

“Deontay has always been dull. Now Malik is trying to train him to be a boxer, and if you look at it, you can see that Deontay is not comfortable where he is.”

Riakporhe, who faced Chris Billam-Smith for the WBO cruiserweight title on Saturday night, believes there is still hope for Wilder but disagrees with his father’s hopeful view.

“I don’t know what it is, but something is missing,” Riakporhe told Express Sport. “If he can fix this, he can definitely do something. I think I read somewhere that his dad said he might spend another few years in the sport. I think this is crazy. He’s almost turning 40!

“But I would say he can definitely have a few more fights and he can end it all. Something is wrong, something is missing. In the heavyweight division, all it takes is one good win and that’s it, he’s there.

“There are so many fighters in the heavyweight division who have lost so many times and are still at the top. “I think if he can fix it, then fine, but if he can’t fix it, he shouldn’t get in the ring again.”

Wilder suggested before the fight with Zhang that he would retire if he did not win, but the 38-year-old has not yet confirmed any plans to hang up his gloves. He has lost four of his last five appearances, with two of those defeats coming at the hands of Tyson Fury.

He was also defeated on points by Joseph Parker before losing to Zhang.